A quote from the pages of hognose.com

However, with the recent work done by Doctors G. J. Scrocchi and F. B. Cruz at the Instituto de Herpetologica, Republica Argentina, it has become increasingly clear that many of the snakes sold as tricolor hognosed snakes may actually comprise three or four separate species.

Virtually all dealers and hobbysits interviewed to date list their tricolor hognosed snakes as Lystrophis semicinctus. In reviewing the key identification points of these snakes, the majority of snakes sold as L. semicinctus actually appear to be either Lystrophis pulcher or Lystrophis matogrossensis with the former being far more common than the latter.

Unfortunately, the Pet Industry, and even the popular Herpetological media has been slow to change. Reptiles Magazine, one of the most widely read magazines in the United States, continues to misidentify photos of Lystrophis pulcher as Lytrophis semicinctus and has yet to publish a correction.

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